College kicks off year with new programs and new people

by Anna Groos

The 2007-2008 academic year is underway, and students and faculty in the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies have hit the ground running.

The School of Library and Information Science welcomes its first class of doctoral students this fall. The six students who comprise the inaugural class have received fellowships from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. They are joined by 160 new students in the master's program, many of whom live in West Virginia and Georgia but are able to take classes via USC’s distance education program.

Dr. Samantha Hastings, director of the SLIS, says the school is ready to shake, rattle and roll. Asked what she was looking forward to about the first week of classes, Hastings said, “All the bright and shining faces filled with expectation and desire to be of service.  The only thing more exciting is graduation.”

The School of Journalism and Mass Communications opens the new academic term with almost 1500 undergraduate and graduate students and two new faculty members. Sid Bedingfield, former CNN programming executive and multimedia journalist is a visiting professor in broadcasting, and David Weintraub, a recent graduate, is an instructor in visual communications. The director of the School, Dr. Shirley Staples Carter, says she's also excited about this year's launch of a new concentration in mass communications.

Students seem just as excited as the administration about the new programs and opportunities within the College. We caught up with one senior as she navigated through the Coliseum on the first day of classes. “I’m very, very excited to start classes, visit my professors from last year, and have all my friends back in one place,” said Aarika Woods, a public relations major from Gaffney.